Engaging the Inner Critic

September 17, 2011

The Inner Critic is NOT an Authority, it’s a Tyrant

You have seen that your ability to identify judgments as attacks and respond to them appropriately and effectively is usually blocked. This is because although some part of you recognizes the attack as dangerous and responds to ward off or minimize the emotional and physical effects of the incoming energy, simultaneously another part of you believes in the judge’s (inner critic, superego) authority. If you look closely, you will see that though it may not like the judgment, this second part believes it needs the support of the authority and is afraid to let go of the connection with the judge. This part is more interested in getting the judge (inner critic, superego) to change the judgment or, better yet, take it back.

This means that your normal reactions to judgment are not true defenses against attack—they are engagements. I call these reactions engagements because they tolerate the judge (inner critic, superego), accept its terms (that it is the authority and can pass judgment) and endeavor to minimize, deflect, or argue with the judgment. What they don’t do is put an end to the relationship altogether.

All inner critic engagements avoid the fundamental effect of attacks on you. This effect is to bind you into a debilitating relationship with the judge. Engagements accept this relationship and in fact preserve it, thereby buying into the judge’s world. Because judgment intentionally provokes self-rejection through evoking a negative self-image, engaging the judgment means becoming involved in this self-rejecting process and accepting this negative self-image. Engagements are active modes of self-rejection provoked by a judgment. When engaging, your focus is not on rejecting yourself; your focus is on dealing with the judgment. But the self-rejection is implicit through the very fact of engaging the judge (inner critic, superego) in relationship. To truly defend against an attack, that is, to disengage, would be to see the judgment as an unacceptable invasion or intrusion and take whatever action is needed to end it. Clear and simple. This would mean not being involved with the judge at all.